PlayStation 4 (PS4) Rumors: No Backwards Compatibility?

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Sony's next-generation console, PlayStation 4, is in the making. But the specifications and features of the console are shrouded in secrecy, unlike Microsoft's Xbox 720, where a lot of leaked details can be found online.

Digital Trends reports that the backwards compatibility for PlayStation 4 will not be featured.

The report also says that PlayStation 4 might have a different name too. This could be because "the Japanese word for 4 is 'shi,' which also happens to mean death."

"While it might seem silly to break from nearly two decades of successful branding because a two words sound alike, it's important to remember how branding has negatively affected the Xbox and Xbox 360 in Japan. Where 'X' marks the spot in the US, it's a negative sign in Japanese culture."

The other word used by Sony as a codename for PS4 is Orbis.

The console will not feature Blu-ray games. PS3 games might have to be played via Gaikai's cloud-gaming service.

There have been rumors that gaming titles like Star Wars 1313 and Square-Enix's Agni's Philosophy demo would be run on 4K resolution, but it is unlikely to happen. 4K playback support will exist only for the video.

Sony might not allow disc-based games to work on the console, this will be done by linking an individual game to a specific PlayStation Network account, said Digital Trends.

According to British magazine PSM3, the next-generation console might come with:

* Quad-core processor

* 16GB flash memory

* 4GB or 8GB RAM

* 1080p and 60 frames per second and might support 3D across all titles.

The price range might be between $510 and $635.

PlayStation 4 is expected to debut at the E3 2013.

PlayStation 3 has sold over 70 million units as of Nov. 16.

"We do have a challenge to manage the next generation of consoles, particularly in terms of dev studio resources," said PlayStation UK's Fergal Gara. "The more platforms you have, and the amount of rich content you have to deliver on all the systems you are supporting clearly puts pressure on decisions made across the studio network, which is something we are battling with."